Travel & Work in Cali

my temporary workspace in the hostel,
originally uploaded by bernd ploderer.

I'm travelling across California to conduct interviews for my PhD studies. That requires that I carry a lot of equipment with me all the time and that I'm permanently looking for quiet places to work. In San Francisco I visited the Main Library and shared my desk with a lot of homeless people. I arrived in Los Angeles yesterday, and luckily the hostel has its own library, which makes it a bit easier for me.

Although I had thought I wouldn't enjoy travelling that much because I'm mainly here for my studies, it's still quite exciting to visit new places every few days. Despite my preconceptions I've enjoyed LA so far, especially since I survived my first trip on the highways here. To be fair, I've got to give kudos to my "friend" the navigation system, that has led me safely to all places so far.

PS: A big THANKS to all who support my trip here - the people who spend time to talk with me for the interviews, Kris for showing me around in San Fran, my host at UC Irvine, the CSCW doctoral colloquium organisers, and the University of Melbourne, especially the Department of Information Systems, as well as my parents for support with the travel funding.

Trip across California

Golden Gate Bridge,
originally uploaded by bernd ploderer.

I'm travelling through California for a few weeks to conduct interviews for my PhD research in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I will then spend a week in OC (Orange County) as a guest at the University of California, Irvine before I go to San Diego for a conference. This will be my first presentation at a major conference - keep your fingers crossed for me.
Along the way I've got of course to do some sightseeing, like yesterday's walk through San Francisco to stay awake after the long flight. Now I'm off to the library to do some work.

We won again...

The Tiger,
originally uploaded by bernd ploderer.

... at least the bronze medal. This time it was the Australian University Games volleyball competition, which took place in Melbourne this year. I took a week off uni to play volleyball with (from left to right) O'Keefe, McKenzie, Jimmie, (myself), Luke, Gerard, Dan, Joe and Reece won the bronze medal game in a close and 5-set game - what an improvement compared to being 2nd last the year before ;-)